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Caitlin Clark’s 2nd triple-double propels Fever to fifth straight victory
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Caitlin Clark’s 2nd triple-double propels Fever to fifth straight victory

Indiana Fever fans cheered as Caitlin Clark grabbed a rebound with 10.2 seconds left on the clock on Wednesday, providing an even better ending to the team’s fifth straight win, as Clark earned her second triple-double of the WNBA season.

In the final seconds of the 93-86 win over Los Angeles, she grabbed her 10th rebound, along with 10 assists and 24 points. Clark recorded the first triple-double ever by a WNBA rookie (19 points, 13 assists, 12 rebounds) on July 6 in a win over the New York Liberty. She is the fifth WNBA player to have multiple triple-doubles in a season.

Clark had 17 triple-doubles in her Iowa college career, with the Hawkeyes winning all of those games. Also Wednesday, Clark made four 3-pointers, giving her a season-high of 102. She’s the fastest to reach 100 3-pointers in WNBA history, and she did it in her 34th game.

Earlier in the day, Clark was named WNBA Rookie of the Month and Eastern Conference Player of the Month for August. She smiled on the court Wednesday as she grabbed the final rebound, admitting afterward that she knew about the triple-double because of the scoreboard. Her teammates and the crowd of 16,645 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse knew it right away, too.

“Every game she’s getting a little better,” said Indiana’s Christie Sides, who was named the WNBA coach of the month on Wednesday. “Every game she’s getting a little (more) understanding of the speed and the quickness. I love talking to her about the game. She’s playing really well … she had some great assists tonight.”

The Fever earned their first playoff spot since 2016 on Tuesday, thanks to losses to Atlanta and Chicago. So they began a six-game home stretch Wednesday with a lot of energy in the arena. The last-place Sparks fought throughout, but Indiana prevailed.

Like Clark, Aliyah Boston finished with 24 points for Indiana, to go with 14 rebounds and four assists. It was Boston’s 12th double-double of the season. Kelsey Mitchell had 18 points and NaLyssa Smith 13 for the Fever, who are now 18-16.

This is the first time the Fever have won at least five games in a row since a six-game winning streak in the 2015 season, when they advanced to the WNBA Finals and lost to Minnesota. Indiana is now 7-1 since WNBA play resumed after the Olympic break. The Fever’s only loss in that streak came on Aug. 24 at Minnesota, Indiana’s next opponent on Friday.

Wednesday marked Clark’s third straight game with at least 20 points and 10 assists, tying Courtney Vandersloot (Chicago in 2017) for the longest such streak. In all, Clark has seven games with at least 20 points and 10 assists. That’s a WNBA single-season record and already ranks third on the WNBA career list behind Vandersloot (10) and Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi (9).

Clark has scored or assisted on 224 points in the Fever’s five-game winning streak, which is another WNBA record. The previous mark was 220 by Taurasi in 2006, her third season in the league.

“These are games you really have to win at home,” Clark said. “The more we can win, the better position we can be for the playoffs. These fans spend a lot of money to come here and see us and have fun with us. So you want to give them a show every time we’re here.”